This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Traditional Italian lasagna
Lasagna, lasagna. How I love thee! It is possibly one of the most loved foods in the whole wide world, and understandably so. There is just something so sentimental about lasagna, so comforting. It evokes images of of gatherings with family and friends all around the world. It is the sort of food that is like a big warm hug, and so more-ish you want to keep digging in until you burst. Lasagna just rocks. Full stop. And if you’ve never tried a homemade one before, that needs to change! If you can make spaghetti bolognese, you can make lasagne. It just requires a wee bit more patience. OK, bit more than a wee bit more patience. But it’s totally worth it. A real homemade Lasagna is epic.
Homemade Lasagna – three parts
There are 3 components to making lasagna:
What goes in lasagna
The Meat Sauce is basically just like Bolognese. You need:
Onion, garlic, carrot and celery – for the flavour base, a soffrito;BeefCanned tomato and tomato pasteRed wine – for extra flavour!Seasonings – beef bouillon cubes (stock cubes), bay leaves, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire sauce
For the white sauce, you need:
butterflourmilkcheese
For assembling, you need:
lasagna sheets – preferably fresh (from the fridge section of grocery stores) but dried works just fine toocheese!
How to make lasagne
See? I told you the meat sauce is just like making Bolognese! Though here, we cook that meat sauce long and slow, to develop incredible rich flavours and make the beef melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Layering up!
And here’s how you layer it up:
Smear a bit of meat sauce on the base first – stops the lasagna sheets from sliding around;Layer 1 – top with meat sauce, bit of white sauceLayer 2 – lay out more lasagna sheets, then top with more meat sauce and more white sauceLayer 3 – repeat again, lasagna sheets, meat sauce then white sauce; andTopping – cover with lasagna sheets, pour over remaining white sauce then sprinkle with cheese.
Pop it in the oven, and THIS is what comes out…. That moment when you cut into the golden bubbly cheesy top and you serve up a piping hot, oozy, meaty slice of lasagna…. That’s a little bit of food heaven, right there. Lasagna first timers, the recipe video below will be super helpful. ❤️ Trust me, you got this. – Nagi xx PS Also happens to be one of the nicest food gifts you can make for someone. Freezes 100% perfect, and is a huge step up from the usual simple casseroles. Right? 😉
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
Life Of Dozer
He just sprawls across the floor when he sleeps. No curling up cutely, chin on paw, like all those cute doggy pics you see all over the internet. Nope, this one just collapses and sprawls out right in my line of path (straight line from kitchen to table is over him – of course).